Homegrown NH: First herbs and new perennials

With a sunny, gorgeous day finally upon us after several days in a row of rain, I decided it was a good day to at least get my front beds weeded and mulched. We are still under average for precipitation since January but we seemed to have been making up for it recently. Looking at the forecast, I knew I had to get this done now because our next days of no rain won't be here until the weekend. Looking at the forecast beyond that tells me that I need to spend the weekend doing more work in the vegetable garden.

Since I wrote my book about herbs, The Herbal Beverage Book, the question I get asked the most is which ones do I grow personally. I have been living back in New England only for a few years so I really haven't had the chance to get many going but here are a few:


While I didn't put this one in my book, I have six thriving comfrey plants. These are three of my smallest just breaking out for the spring. My comfrey oil was amazing at helping my broken foot heal a couple of years ago.

These are three small lavender plants I picked up last year from the local farmer's market just popping up. They may be tiny now but just wait until the end of the season!

Not the prettiest right now but this is spearmint I planted on the hill next to our driveway. I was fortunate enough to have found a local gardener at the NOFA-NH Spring conference a couple of years ago that had a very old patch that needed dividing. She let me have six big divisions and each already has spread to a ten foot area. They have a huge hill to fill to keep the dirt where it is with only wildflowers and sweet fern as competition.


This is lemon balm I also picked up from our local farmer's market.

As for other perennial edibles I have only planted strawberries. I have about two dozen plants in two separate beds that have been doing very well. I recently picked up a few rhubarb rhizomes that I am going to get in the ground this weekend. Strawberry pie isn't complete without a little rhubarb!

My everbearers :-) They have gotten HUGE since this photo I took a week ago!

I have also always enjoyed flower gardens and have left some pretty nice ones behind for the new owners of our last few houses. I haven't done a lot yet at this house but can't wait to get some planted and see how they do. I got a couple planted yesterday and it's at least a start.